Scott Peters

Scott Harvey Peters (born June 17, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative from California's 50th congressional district since 2023, previously representing the 52nd congressional district from 2013 to 2023. His district includes both coastal and central portions of San Diego, as well as the suburbs of Poway and Coronado.

A member of the Democratic Party, Peters served two terms on the San Diego City Council from 2000 to 2008, and was the first person to hold the post of president of the city council, which he did from 2006 to 2008. He served as a commissioner for the Unified Port of San Diego before becoming a member of Congress.

Early life, education, and legal career Peters was born in 1958 in Springfield, Ohio. He was raised in Michigan. His father was a Lutheran minister, and his mother was a homemaker. Peters has said that he took out student loans and participated in his school's work-study program, through which he was given jobs answering phones and cleaning pigeon cages.

Peters served as an economist on the staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), then earned a J.D. degree from the New York University School of Law (’84). Before his election to the city council, he worked as a deputy county counsel for San Diego County and as an attorney in private practice focusing on environmental law.

California government career

California Coastal Commission In 2002, Peters was appointed to the California Coastal Commission. He served one three-year term on the Commission. A coalition of environmental groups gave his votes an environmental score of 31% in 2002, 52% in 2003 and 40% in 2004. He was "involuntarily retired" in 2005 when new State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez did not renew his appointment.

City Council (2000–2008)

Elections In 2000, Peters ran for the San Diego City Council's 1st district. In the open primary, he ranked second with 24% of the vote, qualifying for the November general election. Businesswoman Linda Davis ranked first with 32% of the vote. Peters defeated Davis, 53%-47%.

In the 2004 open primary, he came in first with 48% of the vote. Businessman Phil Thalheimer ranked second with 31% of the vote. In the November election, Peters was reelected, defeating Thalheimer 55%-45%.

Tenure In 2004, San Diego city residents voted to change the structure of city government from a council-city manager form to a mayor-council form, which made the mayor the city's chief executive officer. Serving as a member of the city council during this time, Peters was elected to chair the transition committee in charge of this project.

In 2005, Peters's fellow council members elected him to serve as the first president of the San Diego City Council, which under the new form of government made him the chief officer of the city's newly defined legislative branch. In 2008, San Diego's mayor vetoed a 24% pay raise for the city council that Peters and four other council members had voted for.

Peters was a member of the San Diego City Council during the San Diego pension scandal. In 2002, he voted with the majority to underfund the employee pension system. The ensuing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation cleared Peters and the other council members of fraud, but the Kroll Report investigation called them "negligent." The city spent $7 million defending officials involved in this case, including $631,000 defending Peters. During the 2012 congressional election campaign, his Republican opponent, Brian Bilbray, made the scandal a major issue.

In 2007, Peters was criticized for excessive water use during a drought. He ended the year having consumed more than 1 million gallons of water for his home, which sits on a 34,848-square-foot lot near Mount Soledad, and for an adjacent landscaped parcel.

Peters cited a reduction in sewer spills and beach closure days as accomplishments during his city council tenure. He stated that the city averaged one spill per day when he was elected in 2000, but that the incidence of such spills fell 80% during his terms in office. He was involved in the push to ban alcohol from the city's beaches, as well as to ban smoking from public beaches and parks.

2008 city attorney election Having reached the end of his eight-year term limit on the city council, Peters ran for San Diego City Attorney in 2008, challenging incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre. In the open primary, state legislator Jan Goldsmith ranked first with 32% of the vote. The incumbent ranked second with 29% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff election. Peters ranked third with 20% of the vote and did not advance to the runoff. He later served as deputy county counsel for the County of San Diego.

Port Commission (2009–2012)

Peters was a port commissioner from 2009 through 2012, serving as chair of the Port Commission in 2011. He was sworn in as a commissioner in January 2009, after having been appointed by the San Diego City Council. He represented the City of San Diego on the Port Commission, making decisions about the uses of San Diego Bay and its adjacent waterfront land.

Peters's fellow commissioners chose him to serve as chair of the board of commissioners for 2011. In January 2011, he said one of his top priorities was to decommission the South Bay Power Plant in Chula Vista to make room for better use. The Port also conducted community outreach for six months to gather ideas for improving San Diego's waterfront "front porch" between the airport and Seaport Village.

U.S. House of Representatives (2013–present) Elections

2012

Peters ran for the newly redrawn 52nd district in 2012. The district had previously been the 50th district, represented by Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray. In the final month of the race, Peters lent $1.25 million to his own campaign. In the open primary, Bilbray ranked first with 41% of the vote. Peters ranked second with 23% of the vote, qualifying for the November general election ballot. He narrowly edged out State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, a fellow Democrat, who earned 22% of the vote. The other candidates all received single-digit percentages. During the primary, Peters received the endorsement of retiring congressman Bob Filner of the neighboring 51st district. On election night the vote was too close to call, but Peters's small lead increased each day as more absentee, vote-by-mail, and provisional ballots were processed. On November 16, Bilbray conceded to Peters. Peters defeated Bilbray 51%-49%, a difference of 6,956 votes. He became the first Democrat to represent what is now the 52nd since 1991, when Jim Bates was unseated in what was then the 44th district (it was renumbered the 51st in 1993 and the 50th in 2003).

2014

In the June 2014 primary, Peters was opposed by three Republicans. Peters was the top vote-getter with 42%. Under California's "top two" primary system, he faced the second-place finisher, former city councilman Carl DeMaio, in the November general election. Peters was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program. The program is designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic candidates. In August, Peters was endorsed by the United States Chamber of Commerce, which usually endorses Republicans. Peters was supported by 100 PACs that had supported the Republican incumbent, Brian Bilbray, in the previous cycle.

In a poll conducted by SurveyUSA for U-T San Diego and 10News during September 11–15, 2014, Peters polled at 47% and DeMaio at 46%. The same poll taken October 2–6 showed DeMaio with a 3-point lead over Peters, within the margin of error. An earlier Survey USA poll showed Peters leading by one point. The final result was Peters 51.59% and DeMaio 48.41%.

2016

Peters was reelected with 56.5% of the vote over Republican Denise Gitsham.

2018

Peters was reelected with 63.8% of the vote over Republican Omar Qudrat.

2020

Peters was reelected with 61.6% of the vote over Republican Jim DeBello.

2022 After his district changed to the 50th district, Peters was reelected with 62.8% of the vote over Republican Corey Gustafson.

Tenure Peters supported reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in early 2013. Peters co-sponsored the BREATHE Act in March 2013. In May, he voted against repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The same year, he co-sponsored the Student Non-Discrimination Act. As of late 2013, Peters had voted the same way as Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner nine of the 16 times that Boehner had cast a vote.

In 2014, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a Republican-affiliated lobbying group, said Peters voted with the Chamber's position on key bills 69% of the time.

Peters signed the Respect for Marriage Act in early 2015. That same month, Peters voted in support of the DARK Act.

In 2021, Peters voted against moving forward with the Build Back Better Act, leading to protest from environmentalist and progressive groups.

Committee assignments For the 119th Congress: Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals Committee on the Budget

Caucus memberships Congressional Equality Caucus House Democratic Caucus New Democrat Coalition Problem Solvers Caucus Congressional Arts Caucus Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus Climate Solutions Caucus U.S.-Japan Caucus Congressional YIMBY Caucus Congressional Taiwan Caucus Rare Disease Caucus

Political positions Peters is a moderate Democrat. He is vice-chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition. A 2016 analysis found that Peters was among the House members "most likely to vote against his fellow party members." He was quoted saying "I’m proud of my independent record."

Abortion

Peters is pro-choice. He has a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America and an F grade from the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion organization, for his abortion-related voting record. He opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Civil rights

LGBTQ+ Peters supports same-sex marriage.

Women's rights His efforts to support women's rights earned him an endorsement from the Feminist Majority in 2012. Peters has called climate change "a global emergency and imminent threat that requires us to work across party lines to take bold, immediate action."

Wildfires Peters acknowledges that wildfires have increased due to climate change. He considers wildfires, and natural disasters, high priority in his district. He has sponsored legislation to ensure transparency in government spending on disaster responses. He also has supported the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act to fund wildfire suppression and prevention efforts.

Energy and oil

Peters opposes expanding offshore drilling and has supported efforts to ban it in the Gulf of Mexico. He supports nuclear energy and investing in advanced nuclear technologies. In September 2023, Peters introduced the BIG WIRES Act in the House as H.R. 5551 alongside Senator John Hickenlooper , who introduced it in the United States Senate. The bill's provisions direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to "establish minimum interregional transfer capabilities", better coordinating construction of electrical transmission lines. The bill is part of broader push to accelerate permitting for clean energy.

In January 2025, Peters introduced the Fix Our Forests Act alongside Representative Bruce Westerman. The bill aims to improve forest management for wildfire risk reduction.

Government reform

Peters supports D.C. statehood.

Voting rights

Peters opposes requiring photo ID to vote. He supports automatic voter registration for eligible voters and making election day a federal holiday.

Health care

He supports the Affordable Care Act and opposes efforts to repeal it.

In 2019, Peters supported a bill to lower drug costs, but in 2021, he played a leading role in preventing its passage. Peters was one of three Democrats on the House Energy Committee to oppose allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, except in a small subset of cases. In September 2021, he and Representatives Kurt Schrader and Kathleen Rice joined Republican members to block committee passage of such a bill, 29-29. Peters appeared to be the leader of the opposition group.

Housing

Peters considers housing and homelessness top concerns in his district. He supports affordable housing and building dense housing near transit, with the goal of getting more homes being built while improving transit infrastructure.

Personal life Peters lives with his family in La Jolla. Gorguze is president and CEO of Cameron Holdings, and his family has a net worth of $112 million.

Electoral history

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024